A recent article in IEEE Spectrum magazine provided a review of one of those retro-styled vacuum-tube-based analog amplifiers for the iPod. Some audiophiles claim that tubes provide a warmer, richer listening experience as compared to that provided by digital devices. I’ve often wondered about the validity of that claim, and so it’s good to see [...]

infoSync World has just published it’s list of the 10 best gadgets of 2005. At the top of the heap is the Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming console. The reviewers especially liked the high-performance graphics, the extensive online gaming capabilities, the 16-bit sound and the comprehensive networking features of the Xbox. The complete list of [...]

Nissan will introduce an Xbox-themed concept car at the North American International Auto Show on January 9th 2006. As might be expected, the car will have an integrated Microsoft Xbox 360 game console. And apparently the console is so integrated that some driving games, such as Project Gotham Racing 3, can actually be operated via [...]

Today’s New York Times has a new article about quantum mechanics, and the infamous Schrodinger’s Cat, and how the cat is both dead and alive at the same time and all that…

The author does a good job of explaining an obtuse topic & concludes by saying that at a quantum level, the available evidence suggests [...]

Auto Spies has snagged some pix of the new LCD dashboard on the 2007 Mercedes S-Class.

The 8-inch multi-function display can show a photorealistic speedo (above), the Night View Assist camera (below), the rear view monitor and other information.

Other (albeit off-topic) niceties include the sound system with 14 speakers, and seats with 4 massage settings.
The dashboard [...]

PC World has just published their list of the top fifty gadgets of the past 50 years. In their view, the greatest gadget in 5 decades is the Sony Walkman TPS-L2 cassette player dating back to 1979. The top ten gadgets are listed below:
1. Sony Walkman TPS-L2
2. Apple iPod 3. ReplayTV RTV2001 and [...]

Einstein published his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905. One hundred years later, the UN has declared “The World Year of Physics 2005” in order to honor the work of Albert Einstein.
As part of this centenary, some researchers at MIT have re-tested the most celebrated prediction of Special Relativity, namely that E = [...]

Samsung has just announced its SyncMaster CX717B and CX917B LCD monitors. These new models deliver a remarkably good pixel response time of just 2 milliseconds.

Should be good for video and gaming apps. No word yet on the new monitor’s color depth, gamut, brightness or contrast ratio.
By comparison, most LCD monitors only have a pixel [...]

Here’s some new competition for the Sony PlayStation Portable, from a relatively unknown Korean manufacturer named Blufin.
The LX430 is based on Microsoft Windows CE 5.0, has a 4.3″ (16:9) 1600×1200 screen and a 30GB hard disk plus an SD/MMC Slot. The device is sized at 131×76×22 mm and weighs 200g w/o the battery. The 2800mAh [...]

2005 was a bad year for natural disasters. An estimated 112,000 people died, and economic loss is expected to exceed $225 billion. Only about $80 billion of that loss was covered by insurance.
Hurricane Katrina, shown above, was responsible for $135 billion of losses. The majority of deaths, 87,000, was associated with the Pakistan earthquake [...]